Ebook

Back to the subject of creating an ebook: what do you know? Purchasing ebook software is not necessary. This comes from the internet marketing pro, Rosalind Gardner, who advises that one just needs to create a Word document, save it as a pdf file with Adobe Acrobat or Open Office, insert bookmarks from the Table of Contents to each chapter, insert hyperlinks back to your own website and Voila! - the ebook is done.

Who knew it could be so simple???

I struggled for days with an ebook software only to learn the easy way from Ros. However, lesson learned.

Now on to completing my ebook project...

Denise

Questions from Self Publishers

Q: I just published my first book and now I need to start selling it. I designed it myself and my friend edited it. Everybody who reads it absolutely loves it, so I know there's a huge market for it. I can't get a distributor though and some of the bookstores have turned me down. What more do I need?

A: A reality check. First, if you are not a book designer, then you shouldn't be designing a book. Second, your friend is not an editor, and therefore, should not be editing your book. Third, I'd be willing to bet that "everybody" who loves your book is your brother, aunt, cousin, next door neighbor and assorted other people who are too afraid to tell you the truth for fear of bursting your bubble. Repeat after me everybody "I should not, and will not, design or edit my own book unless I am a professional designer or editor". Start over, do it right.

Ebook

I am now working on creating an ebook, something of a bold or crazy undertaking for a non-techie. Ask my kids how non-techie I am!! Anyway, it will be a good thing when it's finished because it will make our educational products much easier for people to download.

It may be the death of me, though, or it will necessitate more frequent hair coloring sessions as my grey hairs explode in number.It's really not that bad, actually, it's just that an ebook has its own set of rules that are so completely different from a hard copy book.

For instance, setting up pages. I thought that I had to create actual pages, as in a printed book, so there I was going into print preview every time that I added text to see if the text began and ended where it was supposed to on the "page" - the page that doesn't even exist as I have now learned. Each chapter in an ebook is a run-on document, which makes the set-up easier in some respects - now that I know that!!

Anyway, stay posted for more stuff about ebooks.

Denise

Endorsements

To change the subject, here is a question that I received yesterday:



"What is an endorsement and how do I pay for one?"



A. OK, rule number 1 - never, ever pay for an endorsement. That defeats the purpose. An endorsement is not a paid commercial. It's a recommendation from someone. It's someone saying that your book did something beneficial for them, whether it solved a problem, it provided information that they were looking for, it entertained them or it's writing style fascinated them.



An endorsement gives you credibility. It lets the reader know that someone other than you, the author, believes that the book is great for the reasons given in the endorsement. It's a stamp of approval.



Look at books in libraries and in book stores. Read the back cover to see what other people think of the book. Don't the endorsements make you feel that this book could be of benefit or of interest to you?



Like publicity, another source of credibility, an endoresement is priceless. Get as many as you can and add them to your media kit.

Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter at www.inktreemarketing.com.

Cheers,

Denise

Media Kit

Just a quick note on media kits in case that last post got your wheels spinning and you're wondering "what the heck do I put in my media kit anyway?". Well, here it is:

-Author Bio
-A 'What Makes Your Book Unique' page
-Book Information (all the vitals on your book)
-FAQs
-Endorsements (there's an article on our site about this: http://www.inktreemarketing.com/Articles/BookEndorsements.htm)
-Promotion (what promotion you have done and/or what you're planning to do)
-News Release (I'm not sure, but have I mentioned that this better be good?!!)

What Joni said about boring headlines for a news release is so true. The job of a news release is to grab attention - boring the reader is not grabbing attention. Boring the reader ensures that the news release takes a shortcut to the circular file (the trash can).

Media people receive dozens of news releases every day. You have to make yours stand out from the rest. Make the editor or producer stop and say, "What?" That sounds like something that will solve a problem for my audience. I had better contact the sender of the news release for more information.

OK. They want more information. What does that mean? You had better have a well designed media kit that explains in great detail just how you will interest or entertain the audience. Here is where you do not take short cuts. First impressions count, so make it good.

Well, it's late and I have to stop before I babble. More on this topic later.

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